On his off day

Today if you go to downtown Charlotte you can see a dazed Jay Bilas (the announcer from last night's game) muttering to anyone who will listen:  "Do you know that Tyler Hansbrough never takes a play off?"   

Here are some great articles on the greatest basketball player since James Naismith introduced the world to a new winter sport:

No Surprise: The hardest working player in college hoops was the hero.

Psycho T's legend grows

Hansbrough's defining game lifts UNC into Final Four

Psycho T's J delivers W for Final Four bound UNC

National media if by chance you ever come across this blog let me be clear:  I get it.   I get how you think Tyler Hansbrough is more American than apple pie.   I get how without Tyler Hansbrough UNC would lucky to beat Tulsa in the College Basketball Invitational.  I get how Tyler Hansbrough is so focused that they are now calling the car the Ford Hansbrough.  I get it.

What I don't understand is why there aren't articles about Ty Lawson's suburb tournament performance so far?  Quentin Thomas looked lost last night and without Lawson breaking Louisville's press then UNC would have been in trouble.   Without Lawson's 9 assists and his huge 3 pointer to put UNC up 7 then it might have been a different game.  I know the easy story is Tyler Hansbrough scoring 28 points and making some ridiculous jumpers that he has never made before in his career, but I implore people to look deeper.   He played well, but again he isn't without his faults.  Tyler had 5 turnovers, only 1 assist (which is actually above his average), and of course 0 blocks.  His defense pretty much consisted of slapping in the general vicinity of the  ball whenever Padgett received a pass.  

The lazy story is the amazingly focused, determined, hard-working Hansbrough came through in the clutch.  The harder story is the story of a team that is peaking at the right time thanks to contributions from Ty Lawson, Danny Green, Wayne Ellington, and even Deon Thompson.  The harder story is trying to figure out if Louisville's 19 turnovers were more of a product of an improved UNC defense or a lack of "focus" by Louisville's offense.  The harder story is writing about how impressive UNC's secondary break has been in the tournament.   However, these stories are just too hard for the lazy national media.   If only the national media were as hard-working as Tyler Hansbrough?